The Problems
by Enchantress Nova
Summary: An autistic child becomes the responsibility of the Headmaster, but what will happen when the boy takes a certain shine to the moody Potions Master, and how will this effect their very lives?


_A/N: Hiya. This is another story despite having so many others not finished yet but I was just so in the mood for writing this. Be warned that there is an autistic child character and there will be some distressing and powerful scenes in later chapters. _

_I base my knowledge in autism not from any courses or books but rather my own experience with an autistic brother. The character I have developed will be included in the next chapter, and before I begin I want to say that some responses to autism will be highly insensitive and may offend but they are realistic._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of it's characters. _

* * *

Prologue

By Enchantress Nova

The Teacher's Lounge was as it always was, chairs and desks everywhere, books upon the many shelves and the odd cabinet being the only decoration apart from the rare small cushion which added nothing to comfort. But tonight the room was full of Professors, it was the Summer Holidays and all the students were away home with their families but they had found the third week available to all of them and made a date for the meeting.

The Headmaster had only one teacher missing, Remus Lupin, he was to be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher but Severus was still unaware to this arrangements. Lupin had already been informed of the meetings importance and didn't need to be briefed any further.

The House elves scurried in and out of the Lounge with tea and biscuits, everyone in their seats, awaiting word from the Headmaster who was yet to arrive. Hooch and Sprout sat next to each other talking of News and other pointless banter, Vector and Flitwick simply enjoyed their tea quietly, only speaking to ponder on the purpose of the meeting.

All in all, it was the normal staff meeting, everything down to a large chair being totally and thoroughly occupied by Hagrid, Filch's cat stinking up the corner where she curled up and Argus' face daring anybody to try and disturb her and the all together silent Potions Master sitting at the end of a long table, taking small calculated sips of his tea and giving little to no attention to the other occupants of the room.

Same old, same old.

But of course the unpleasantness of sitting around was undone by the Headmasters arrival, he made sure all were comfortable and ready to listen. He had some very big news to share…

A child, a boy, a seven year old…was coming to stay in Hogwarts.

This boy had Asperger's Syndrome.

A form of Autism.

The Professors were generally surprised by this revelation but waited to hear the Headmaster out although this situation didn't sound good at all. Autism was not something well understood then, if someone had it public usually saw it as that unfortunate family's 'silent problem.' Nobody talked about it, quiet whispers and ultimately something you had to deal with or didn't.

Most didn't.

"He is a Wizard and he would eventually have been a student here anyway…" spoke the Headmaster, his voice just as aged as the rest of him, and he continued "a week ago his parents were in a traffic accident, he has no living relatives or familiar people to take him in."

A display of pity found it's way across the majority's faces, minus Filch and his cat, Snape as usual and Sybil…but she was odd about these things. She didn't react like other people.

"He will be staying with us in the castle, specialists will come in regularly to monitor and help him with adjustments and his all around well being. He would have been Hogwarts' first mentally disabled to be enrolled here but unfortunately he is still too young."

Albus paused, looking for any negative reactions and there were a number of sour faces; they didn't like the idea of this. It would be stressful and a great inconvenience.

He knew what they were thinking, he'll be staying here for now and then he'll be a student…they hadn't been told of this and the unpleasant circumstances didn't settle well in their minds. A small bitter taste seemed to play over their tongues like when biting into old fruit. This wasn't what they wanted…

"Headmaster…" Professor Sprout was the first to speak up, a strong woman such as her wasted no time "this is a huge inconvenience to all of us and when this child is actually a pupil do you expect us to take exception to this boy; it's not fair for these hardworking students to have their educational growth stunted because the Professor has to spend more time with one student than the others."

"It is also unfair for a child to be denied good education on the grounds that they are autistic" countered the Headmaster justly.

Sprout seemed ready to disagree when Albus spoke yet again "there will be much time before he is a student here, years in fact, he will be accustomed to the castle by then, the students in the corridors rushing for classes and he will already be settled into these surroundings. He _and _the staff will become adjusted to this way of things far before he is ever fitted into a class regime."

"Cant' he just be sent to St Mungo's? What don't they deal with?" sighed Sinistra.

Minerva was quick to reply only with less of a dismissive tone, "that is a point, why are _we _to keep the boy, surely the Ministry should be responsible for homing him and a family situation might be better suited for a boy of his requirements" she put carefully.

A small sigh escaped Dumbledore, it pained him to explain this part; Remus' face during his briefing had been utterly soul destroying.

"The boy cannot be put up for adoption; his parents were proud Gryffindor purebloods and very wealthy, and in case of their death they forbid their son from being adopted by anyone that was not either pureblood or socially known for being powerful and successful. The Ministry would be to judge but all these rich families do not want to adopt children with mental difficulties. And even if he was able to be adopted by more than that, there are few adoption agencies which will accept youths like him, and those that do are poorly funded."

"What about a Muggle home?" asked Vector.

"Never" came a surprisingly bold answer from the Headmaster, "he is a young Wizard and his disabilities make him prone to emotional imbalance and tantrums and other such things…as he gets older his magic will become more powerful. Could you imagine what would happen if he got out of control around a family of Muggles, even if they were aware of his magical talents? No, he could never be with them."

Both looks of severe pity and half-hearted defeat spread throughout the room; most keeping their eyes to the ground. Sprout felt quite frustrated, McGonagall was not pleased at all, Sinistra was in a state of disbelief, Severus only took another sip of his tea and Sybil continued trying to imagine how many baked beans she could get to stick to a large spider web hanging in the corner. She reckoned well over forty…maybe forty eight.

"So…" spoke Hagrid, the giant softie that he was tying to not feel overly upset for the boy he was hearing about; "when can we be expectin' the laddie the be 'ere then?"

A small glint appeared in Dumbledore's eyes through his half-moon spectacles before saying; "tomorrow."

An array of gasps and mutterings fluttered about the room at this, "that soon?" exclaimed Minerva. She was one of the few still staying in the castle; she would be one of the few to greet the boy.

"I still don't see why he couldn't go to St Mungo's" repeated Sinistra and she was met with shot looks before Albus answered;

"He will not receive the proper care and attention he needs there, at least here we can promise him attention from qualified specialists and a good education…That and since the child get all his parent's money The Ministry don't want him within reach" Albus added.

"typical" was spat in a disdainful grunt from the dark clad man and Hooch practically jumped out of her skin.

"Geeze, I forgot he was even here" she whispered to Professor Sprout.

A loud cough grabbed everyone's attention back to the matter at hand, Dumbledore's eyes scanning the room for any defiant eyes and when seeing none he finally said "any more questions?"

Everyone was silent, some thinking desperately to ask a defeating question, to get out of this situation…but the war was lost; the child would be arriving tomorrow and nothing else could be done about it. Surrender.

Only one question came to that and it was from the Potions Master yet again, this simple question seemed to bite into everyone as soon as it was asked. Severus' low and somehow ever-bitter voice formed the words;

"What's the boy's name?"

As if silence could become louder, all eyes were fixed on the Headmaster who was stunned for seconds before realising he had left out such a blunt detail and answered;

"Christopher…Christopher Dawn"

* * *

Conversation was never ending after the meeting, some were heading back out of the castle though for the rest of their holiday and with extra incentive now too…but no one was exempt from the many things to think about.

The Professor's still in the castle would be getting a late supper, although Filch went straight to work, passing a commonly distanced Professor on his way; the cat almost smiled at him. Oddly enough the raggedy feline quite liked Severus although the Slytherin preferred to keep it a secret.

Minerva asked if Severus would be joining the rest of them for supper but he declined, such a long meeting had drained the man and he wished for nothing more than his bed. A small nod and Minerva was away to sit by Vector.

One final glance and then Snape began his walk back to his chambers. The dark corridors to the dungeon rooms deliciously silent; just as Snape liked them and he entered his rooms.

Locking, spell locking, alarm setting and all round Slytherin paranoia checking the door before Severus slipped out of his robes and changed into a white nightshirt. His large bed looking so comfy and fluffy Severus almost dived into the sheets and with his want put out all the lights.

Severus was a complex man of simple pleasures. True the expression is a 'simple man of simple pleasures' but that description of himself was beyond fantasising about. Nice, warm sleep…simple pleasures.

But there were still certain issues rolling around in his head, some very unpleasant things.

The entire thing, the situation, the idea…it was complete stupidity.

Nobody at Hogwarts was trained or even aware of how to behave around anyone with such a disorder, even if they weren't to treat him the Professors would certainly be having a great influence on the boy. They would only manage to make the boy more miserable, the kid just lost his parents for Merlin's sake!

They're all fools if they think this could possibly end well.

At the very least if things didn't work out the Hogwarts staff could say that they tried but failed and they could move on. But what about the child? What about Christopher? Would they just send him to St Mungo's and wait until the boy was 18 to collect his money? It is a cruel side to the world and a side that Severus knows all too well.

It was ridiculous what the Ministry were trying to do and t was very frustrating, effectively making Severus all the more sleepy and his eyelids drooped at the sudden feeling of heaviness.

So little thought was put into what was best for the boy. The bloody Ministry. But it was just one more reason for Severus to dislike them.

Poor Christopher.

But then again, it wasn't really Severus' problem…now, was it?

* * *

_Hope you liked this! Chapter 2 will have Christopher meeting the staff at Hogwarts and you'll get a real sense of his personality._

_Please __Review!__ I would really appreciate feedback with a fic like this._

_Feel free to mention any issues with my story or just things your curious about, what is your own view and maybe I can take from them things to include in my story ^^_

_X Nova _


End file.
